Google adds over 50 activities for kids to Google Assistant

Google is adding over 50 games, activities, and stories to Google Assistant on your phone and Google Home. It’s making an effort to help you keep your kids entertained without looking at a screen with activities like Disney’s Mickey Mouse Adventure, musical chairs, or freeze dance. 

Google is also rolling out voice recognition for children. It says Assistant has improved in recognizing kids’ voices and it’s now able to distinguish between them. This will allow Assistant to customize its responses to kids, just like it does with adults.

To get your kids started with voice recognition, they’ll need a Family Link account. Family Link was rolled out earlier this year to beta testers and to the public about a month ago. It allows parents to take control over their children’s usage and permissions if they’re under 13. You can download the Family Link app at the link below.

While kids will be able to do things like play games, have stories read to them, and get help with their homework, there are some limits to what Assistant will let them do. According to Google, kids will not be allowed to do the following:

• Play YouTube videos or songs from YouTube Music
• Play songs from Google Play Music unless their family has a Google Play Music family subscription or the person who set up the Google Home has an individual subscription
• Make purchases
• Use non-Google apps unless they’re listed on the apps for families page

The new activities have already begun to roll out so you can open up Google Assistant on your phone or an Assistant-enabled smart speaker like Google Home or Home Mini to get started. So, who’s up for some Halloween-themed family freeze dance fun?